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Any race track has its own unique characteristics, a set of traits that may favor one car/driver combination over another, and Heartland Park Motorplex provided an excellent example of this phenomenon on Day Three of the 2001 Michelin/Car and Driver One Lap of America tour.

Although some of the usual suspects -- Viper drivers Ron Adee, Brian Smith, and Spencer Geswein -- occupied top spots in the results of the two time trials here Monday, there were other top five finishers who hadn't enjoyed much limelight until now.

Wrapped around a drag strip, the Heartland Park road racing facility presents an unusual combination of a long front straightaway, tight technical sections, and heavy braking. It's a layout that favors crisp handling and tidy driving as much as it does horsepower, and it produced some unexpected heroes.

Foremost under this heading was Aaron Quine, an Ohio driver who's been showcasing the Chevy Corvette Grand Sports Roadster fabricated by fellow Ohioan William Hoskins, one of the coolest replicars in recent memory.

Quine was a respectable but unspectacular eighth in Monday's opening three-lap run, his first look at the track. He proved to be an exceptionally quick study, however, knocking about 20 seconds off his morning time, which proved to be the day's best run.

Superformance Cobra driver and company principal Dennis Olthoff also enjoyed his best day so far in the '01 Lap, posting the fourth fastest time in both the morning and afternoon runs, while the South Dakota-based BMW M3 of Russ Wiles, Mike Bartley, and Tim Peterson cracked the top five, finishing third in the day's opening round.

A bit deeper in the standings, the supercharged Saturn SC2 coupe that created a stir with its strong showing at Michigan Speedway proved its Sunday performance was no fluke by cracking the top 20 twice at Heartland Park. The factory-backed car is co-driven by Chris Berube, a Saturn engineer from Michigan, and Floridian Tom Brandlehner.

In addition to bringing out the best in some drivers, Heartland Park also brought out the showman in others.

The last turn on the Heartland road course spits cars onto the long dragstrip front straight, and it saw several of the more powerful cars employing a dirt track driving technique -- power-on oversteer with the front wheels at opposite lock and the rear tires smokin' -- to get the best launch out of the corner.

The supercharged '89 Thunderbird of Ted Lyons and Mike Hurst, both from Indiana, provided the most noteworthy example of this technique, hammering onto the front straight lap after lap completely sideways, to standing ovations from a growing crowd of appreciative Lappers.

While Heartland was beneficial to some, it was unkind to others, particularly Emanuel Cruovisier, who had been driving Nick Wong's 1992 Nissan Skyline GTR steadily upward in the overall rankings. Though Crouvisier finished both of his Kansas runs, the Nissan's turbocharger had gone soft.

He managed to post the seventh best time in the morning run, but slipped to 20th in the afternoon.

Thanks to its strong Sunday showing, the Nissan held onto fifth place in the overall standings, but as the Lapper packed up to head for the Motorsports Ranch, a new facility just outside Fort Worth, Texas, the Skyline's prognosis was clouded.

Mechanical attrition had also become quite visible at the conclusion of the Heartland rounds, with 10 of the original 89-car starting field sidelined by various problems.

On the other hand, One Lap veterans were celebrating the unexpected arrival of perennial campaigner Mike Hickman, who caught up with the tour Sunday in Michigan.

"Last Minute Mike" and his 1980 Chevy Camaro Z28 have made more One Lap appearances than anyone in the 2001 field. Besides seeing old friends and making new acquaintances, Hickman views this event as his annual Camaro maintenance program, which frequently entails engine rebuilding.

Hickman admits there have been several occasions, including this year, when he cuts his pre-race preparations a little too close.